Epic Fail Using Vortex

[GolfGeezer]

I was trying to make Attjack fried chicken using my SnS and Vortex. I had a bunch of chicken thighs and marinated them in pickle juice overnight. Then I loaded up a large Weber charcoal chimney I just bought with the same briquettes I used in my inaugural steak cook, Cowboy hardwood briquettes. Got that going, and then prepped the thighs per the recipe. After 30 minutes, checked the chimney and coals looked hot with swirling flames. Poured them into the vortex thingie that I bought per a link from Panhead John. Filled it to the top. Opened bottom vent all the way, and top vent all the way.

Weirdly, the kettle struggled to get over 300*. It’s weird because when I did the steaks using the SnS insert, the temp shot up over 375* in 10 minutes. Today, it never got above 310-315*. I put the thighs on anyway. OMG!! They did not crisp up, soggy and mushy coating on the bottoms although the thighs did get to 175*. Worse, the thighs had a very acrid smell and taste. Somewhere between what you get using too much lighter fluid, which I did not use at all. Semi-creosote in smell. Awful! Wife wouldn’t touch hers and she was the smart one. I finally rubbed all the skin off and rinsed the thighs. Hopefully I’ll be able to rescue some use for them.

Any thoughts on what went wrong? Should I have waited until all the coals were ashed over and there was flame coming out of the vortex? I just checked the kettle and it still is below 325*.

[bmillin]

Wow. I was dismayed until I read the last paragraph, My guess is that yes you should have waited until the coals were ashed over and the Vortex was screaming hot.

[GolfGeezer]

Yes, but I am still confused that they never reached super hot. I can understand jumping the gun, but shouldn’t they have lit up by now? I mean, never reaching super hot.

[smokenoob]

all I can think of is the briquettes…..the rest sounds right

[GolfGeezer]

Yeh, but again,these are the same as my steak cook wherein they did get very hot.

[smokenoob]

maybe not getting the briquettes, screaming hot before putting the cover on?

[GolfGeezer]

smokenoob Maybe. I did put the lid on right after pouring the coals into the vortex. Definitely need to watch that next time.

[58limited]

I blame the pickle juice LOL

I've not had a problem with my vortex but the coals are screaming hot from the chimney when I pour them in. If needed, I put more charcoal on top and wait until it is burning hot before cooking. Usually get dome temps well above 400^o - 450^o or more.

[mrichie1229]

+1 High temps is what the vortex is known for.

[LA Pork Butt]

When I use the Vortex for wings I leave the top and bottom wide open. And rotate the Weber cover every 10 minutes.

[TripleB]

I adjust the bottom and top vents when I Vortex. Wow, that sounds like a Jack Lalanne sales pitch line. LOL. But I do rotate the lid every 10 minutes like you do. Vortex wings are the best.

[Attjack]

Weird. When I use the vortex the needle on the lid thermo is pegged at beyond hot.

[Finster]

Same. Cowboy Briquettes.

[HawkerXP]

+4

[BFlynn]

Same

[Steve B]

There’s only one thing to blame for this epic failure.
Panhead John Plain and simple. Once you mentioned his name, it all made sense.

[Panhead John]

LOL!……😂

[GolfGeezer]

Yup, either that or the eclipse….

[hoovarmin]

Mystery solved

[TripleB]

Question, how do you set up your Vortex? I assume from what you are cooking, small end up. If the other way, large end up, then maybe a heat/combustion issue? FWIW...

[GolfGeezer]

Yes, small end up. Aluminum foil around the bottom ringing around the vortex as some have done to help air flow to the vortex.

[JeffJ]

I always have the large end up and no matter what I’m cooking the results are always good.

[Michael_in_TX]

This is very strange. I find the Vortex foolproof. Fully chimney of KBB lit for 20 minutes and then poured into the Vortex. It gets stupid hot very quickly.

I do not, however, use any form of a foil liner. I did the first two times I used the Vortex, but I couldn't get it right and the grease just collected and ignited. Without the foil liner, the grease just drips down, but away from the Vortex. This works better as the extreme high heat burns up the grease anyway.

It is very curious that your hardwood briquets didn't get any hotter. I wonder if the irregular shape of hardware contributed to the problem (in that the smaller pieces burned themselves out too soon and you just had less overall heat)?

[mrichie1229]

I have never tried the foil liner (never heard of it before today). Probably won't try it for the reasons you listed Michael_in_TX.

[Troutman]

I use a foil liner in every cook I do with the Vortex. It forces air thru the Vortex. After dozens of cooks using that method I’ve never had a grease fire.

[GolfGeezer]

Michael_in_TX These were not lump, but Cowboy briquettes. So, no size variable. Yes, very, very strange given my 1st cook last week using the SnS insert for steaks wherein the kettle got very hot using the same charcoal bag.

[Troutman]

My recent post cooking both a small brisket and pork butt in my kettle last weekend, I too struggled a little with holding temps. I use a Fireboard with fan control and it’s usually rock solid. The reason was the steady 25 mph winds on Saturday. I finally found a sweat spot by opening my vents slightly which are generally left closed on the bottom.

My point in telling you this, did your cook occur last weekend, perhaps on Saturday? You obviously had a cold fire spewing soot over your meat. It could have been the wind causing a weird convection problem in your kettle. Just a thought 🤔

[GolfGeezer]

Troutman My cook was yesterday after noon Pacific time. It was windy, although not steady and not above maybe 10 mph. It is usually breezy here near the coast.

Since this was a vortex cook, I had both bottom and top vents wide open. When I poured the coals from the full, large Weber chimney, most were well lit and ashed over with some at the top just on the edges. What really threw me is that the temp never got above 315* or so, even after 30 minutes, nor after 60 minutes.

[Jessterr]

Just curious, where was the charcoal stored during the time between your inaugural steak cook and this cook, and how long a period of time was that? Any chance the charcoal could have gotten wet or adsorbed moisture from a damp environment? The only other thing that comes to mind is that maybe the charcoal was burned in the chimney a bit too long before dumping it in the vortex. Any chance it was possibly a little longer than 30 minutes, like maybe 40-45? Even 30 sounds a bit long to me, I typically end up around 15. I’ve not used Cowboy briquettes before, don’t know how quick burning they are, but in general the “burn life” of a briquette is about an hour, perhaps too much of their useful life was burned up in the chimney? Just some thoughts.

[GolfGeezer]

Jessterr The bag was stored in a cabinet in my garage. The steak cook was last week on 4/3. Timing on the chimney dump was about 20 minutes.

[smokenoob]

You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension: a dimension of fire, a dimension of smoke, a dimension of meat. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into… the BBQ Zone.
Smokenoob Serling

[Jessterr]

No question, this vortex was manufactured in a different dimension, probably the next one over. It sucks heat out of the fire and sends it back to its “home” dimension.

[Finster]

Weird.
If anything, I sometimes think the vortex gets the cooking chamber too hot...

[jfmorris]

This is fully contrary to every experience I have had with the Vortex with my kettle. A creosote smell indicates bad combustion, and black smoke. I've never seen that in my kettle - just my offset, if the fire wasn't hot enough or was starved for air, and I just had to open the top of the firebox until the fire got hotter and the smoke cleared up.

My experience with the Vortex matches everyone else, in that my kettle dome thermometer pegs out past 550 or whatever its top reading is.

I am going to go the opposite direction here, and suggest that maybe if you gave the chimney 30 minutes, that you expended too much energy, and there was not enough left for a hot fire in the Vortex insert itself. I usually get my chimney going for about 15 minutes, and just as the flames hit the top of the chimney, I then pour it into the Vortex, and then give things another 15 minutes for the kettle to get nice and hot. I usually have flames shooting out the top of the Vortex by the time I bring the chicken out, 30 minutes after lighting the coals. And the kettle is super hot.

This is what it usually looks like by the time I bring the chicken out... the flames will die down when I drop the lid.




And the chicken, later in the cook... this is a different cook - I was just looking for pictures of the Vortex in action.

[BFlynn]

This is what it is supposed to look like. I've never had any issue with the vortex. I've used lump charcoal and briquettes.
For briquettes - I normally just use the HEB store brand.

[fzxdoc]

At this point, I agree with Jessterr and jfmorris 's theories. You may have kept the coals in the chimney too long and they were mostly spent when dumped. I had never heard that a single briquette has a 1 hour "burn life", as Jessterr mentions, so that's an interesting nugget to me.

Even with that theory, in my experience mostly spent coals seldom dump soot, I've run many a smoke over dying coals at the end. But then I've never used your particular brand of charcoal. My experience is only with KBB, Kingsford Professional, or B&B briquettes.

For science's sake, repeat the cook exactly with another charcoal and see what happens. JK. That said, I'd keep an eye on that charcoal brand that you're using for the next few cooks to see how it behaves in a spent state.

Kathryn

[jfmorris]

Great minds think alike!

I didn't pay attention to the charcoal until you mentioned it. He used Cowboy briquettes. I used Cowboy lump exactly once, and regretted it. I have low confidence in their briquettes based on my experience with their lump...

I've used KBB, Royal Oak, Weber and now B&B briquettes in the SNS. KBB and B&B in the Vortex, and of those, the Royal Oak I would not purchase again. It burns up too fast, and briquettes were smaller and crumbly compared to the other brands.

[GolfGeezer]

Okay, based on my current experiment, 15 minutes in the chimney. Then into the vortex. Another 10-15 minutes. I can hot, glowing coals, but no flames like you picture. I did take a pic, haven’t had the chance to upload - later for that. Here it is another 10 minutes and the SnS thermometer is showing 325*. Not rising very much. More to come, but looking like Cowboy is the main suspect.

[Skinsfan1311]

jfmorris The difference between their lump, and briquettes, is night and day. The lump is crap but the briquettes, at least in my experience, is good stuff. A few years ago they were practically giving it away at the end of the season at Costco and I bought a bunch of it and it was great for grilling and smoking. Might just be an off bag.